In Pursuit of a New American Industrialism

More on Shrinking Cities: Is Pittsburgh Like Buffalo?

Wow. Efforts to revitalize Buffalo get hammered pretty hard in this City Journal piece. It's titled: Can Buffalo Ever Come Back? Probably Not--and Government Should Stop Bribing People to Stay There.

A taste:

As for state and local politicians, reducing New York’s unnecessary taxes and regulation would be a good idea, since if Buffalo is ever to rebound, even somewhat, private innovators, not government projects, will be the primary reason. Better schools and safe streets would also be key to improving Buffalo’s chances of survival. Yet though such policies would improve things, they would not restore the boomtown of the early twentieth century; the economic trends working against such a prospect are simply too great. The best scenario would be for Buffalo to become a much smaller but more vibrant community—shrinking to greatness, in effect. Far better that outcome than wasting yet more effort and resources on the foolish project of restoring the City of Light’s past glory.